Mubasher: Tech titan Elon Musk’s SpaceX prepares to launch a group of 60 satellites in a single shot this week for the aerospace giant’s satellite internet constellation, known as Starlink.

If the venture proves successful, it will throne SpaceX as the first launcher of an internet satellite network, and the sole operator in this domain with its own rockets.

SpaceX’s CEO Musk shared via Twitter an image of the 60 internet-beaming satellites to be flown at a lower orbit than originally planned, packed in the Falcon 9, a two-phase-to-orbit medium lift launch vehicle.

Musk stated that it would take at least six more launches, with a total of 420 satellites to even establish “minor” coverage of the service.

SpaceX could need at least 12 more launches to compete commercially with terrestrial broadband network.

The launch, which was approved by the Federal Communications Commission, is due to take place at 10:30 pm ET (2:30 am GMT), given a favourable weather conditions.

The project may take years to pull off and by then, other competitors will be probably racing to win a bigger slice of the cake.